So I was walking around my local OfficeMax yesterday, and I noticed they had a Playbook kiosk set up with a demo unit. It was nice to finally see one of these in person to try it out. First, a few thoughts:

-I really like the build quality of this device. Nice size, heft, and shape. The matte back really feels great in the hands. The screen seemed very bright and colorful.

-I know everyone is saying this, but now that I have played with it, the OS is SUCH A RIPOFF OF WEBOS! I couldn't believe how similar the swipes, gestures, and general interface mimicked WebOS. I really can't believe HP let them release this device without some sort of lawsuit. I'm not a lawyer, though, so there probably wasn't a worthwhile case.

-Finally, the reason this thing will fail: I walked to the counter to purchase an unrelated item, and asked the cashier if they had sold any Playbooks yet. His response: "What's a Playbook?" He then radioed to his manager to ask, and he said they hadn't sold any yet. If the salesmen that are supposed to sell this device don't even know what it is, then that is a VERY BAD SIGN. Granted, this is OfficeMax, and isn't typically the place you go to for high end electronics. However, this is a store a lot of small business owners shop at. Small business owners that probably own or have owned Blackberries.

This experience just really made me more disappointed at yet another failed attempt to take on the iPad. Lets hope the Touchpad actually sells some units and makes at least a tiny dent in the domination. Competition always favors the consumers.

Last edited by HelloNNNewman; 04/28/2011 at 07:48 AM.
Reason: Fixed Typo in title

So I was walking around my local OfficeMax yesterday, and I noticed they had a Playbook kiosk set up with a demo unit. It was nice to finally see one of these in person to try it out. First, a few thoughts:

-I really like the build quality of this device. Nice size, heft, and shape. The matte back really feels great in the hands. The screen seemed very bright and colorful.

-I know everyone is saying this, but now that I have played with it, the OS is SUCH A RIPOFF OF WEBOS! I couldn't believe how similar the swipes, gestures, and general interface mimicked WebOS. I really can't believe HP let them release this device without some sort of lawsuit. I'm not a lawyer, though, so there probably wasn't a worthwhile case.

-Finally, the reason this thing will fail: I walked to the counter to purchase an unrelated item, and asked the cashier if they had sold any Playbooks yet. His response: "What's a Playbook?" He then radioed to his manager to ask, and he said they hadn't sold any yet. If the salesmen that are supposed to sell this device don't even know what it is, then that is a VERY BAD SIGN. Granted, this is OfficeMax, and isn't typically the place you go to for high end electronics. However, this is a store a lot of small business owners shop at. Small business owners that probably own or have owned Blackberries.

This experience just really made me more disappointed at yet another failed attempt to take on the iPad. Lets hope the Touchpad actually sells some units and makes at least a tiny dent in the domination. Competition always favors the consumers.

I thought so too. Although, perhaps it would make more sense that the cashier and manager was within sight distance, not audible distance. So he used the radio to ask him. Still weird, but it probably puts it in a better perspective. He just didn't want to shout across the store.